Una venerata reliquia dimenticata. Ricerche attorno al riccio di pastorale di San Nicolò dei Mendicoli

This essay focuses on a Limoges enameled crozier coming from the parish church of San Nicolò dei Mendicoli in Venice, currently housed in the Museo Correr. The object was sold, together with a precious pace, by the fabbriceria of the parish of San Raffaele to the City Hall of Venice in the last decade of the nineteenth century. Thanks to the archival documentation, we can retrace the most significant phases of the sale during which the past of the artifact came to light. For centuries, in fact, it was venerated as a relic of saint Nicholas of Myra. Through different sources, we reconstruct its history and the symbolic meanings it acquired in the course of time.